5 ms·

"Even if nobody reads your essay, writing it will make an impact on you." After reading a post in HN (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5614689 https://news

"Even if nobody reads your essay, writing it will make an impact on you." After reading a post in HN (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5614689 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5614689) entitled "why you should write every day", I've being doing it daily in a private blog. I do it in English to improve my second language. My main language is Portuguese. I'm doing it since 09/22/2014. I try to write about my own ideas, because I believe is the right thing to do and it is the best subject to improve myself. It's not an easy task, and I do not feel I'm improving yet, but something in me tell me that I should keep doing it.

rdrey 12y ago
I think starting with a private blog is great advice, since it removes all apprehensions except for the "too little time" argument.
- henrik_w 12y ago
  On the other hand, having other people read what you have written can be quite a thrill (especially if it becomes popular). Submitting your blog posts to HN and reddit/r/programming also can get you good feedback and alternative views (and, for that matter, mean comments too).
ionforce 12y ago
> I'm doing it since 09/22/2014. "I've /been/ doing it since ..." Concordo. Acho que deve continuar escrever. De onde você é? I agree. You should continue to write. Where are you from?
- edpichler 12y ago
  Brazil.
sophacles 12y ago
Tangential - Just want to give you some feedback on your comment, since you are wanting to improve your second language: First: you've overcome a big hurdle in learning a second language, I understood what you are trying to communicate, and I did so on my first reading of it. To me, this means you're already good at english! (By comparison if I tried in my second language, which is German, I would need a few drafts and a proof-reader). Second: You're doing commas better than a lot of native english speakers. That's pretty impressive. Third: There are a couple of grammatical/phrasing errors I'll tell you about in your comment. These are really common errors amongst people who learn English as a second (or Nth) language, and I'm not doing it to belittle you, but to help your stated goal of improvement. I'm doing it since 09/22/2014 This is one of those wierd places in English where the verbs "to do" or "to be" combine strangely with tenses and idioms. I'm not so sure of the technical way of stating the problem, but here's a couple of examples of a more natural way to state it: * I've been doing it since 09/22/2014. * I've done it since 09/22/2014. but something in me tell me that This is a small one, and maybe a typo, but it is part of a pattern I've seen a lot. Again, not great at the technical grammar terms, but it should be: * but something in me tells me that (notice the 's' on tells). Anyway I'm always impressed with people who can learn a second language well, and wanted to encourage it and help if can.
- edpichler 12y ago
  Oh, I really appreciate your corrections, thank you! I understand that reading bad English is really annoying for natives. I try to be careful here on HN, but sometimes I do some mistakes.
  - sophacles 12y ago
    You're welcome. Personally, I don't understand when people get annoyed by those things. I figure if someone has done me the favor of learning my language to communicate with me, and they've done so well enough that I understand them, why should I nitpick little errors? I only point out things like this to people who state they are actively trying to improve - because they've done me a favor by being able to communicate with me, and I can return it by helping them at their goal.
    - StavrosK 12y ago
      That's a good outlook. I can't tell you how much it irks me when someone is annoyed that someone else doesn't speak English well. I always say "at least their English is better than your <other language>". Invariably, that outlook is expressed by people who happen to only speak one language.
      - blister 12y ago
        I don't mind when I meet someone in normal daily activities that speaks English poorly. My thoughts on the subject mirror your own. What _IS_ frustrating is dealing with a customer service representative in an overseas call center that speaks English poorly. How many man hours have been lost in forced communication with foreign contractors in an effort to save a few dollars an hour over an American counterpart? Also, those cost savings to a company like Comcast also damage our economy by not employing Americans in need of work. It's a double-whammy of frustration.
      - LOLStavrosK 12y ago
        > "at least their English is better than your <other language>". Strawman. > Invariably, that outlook is expressed by people who happen to only speak one language. Confirmation bias. 0/2. Congrats! Your comment contributed to the topic about as much, if not less, than mine. Happy Holidays! <3
IndianAstronaut 12y ago
As someone trying to learn Portuguese, I should probably start writing in Portuguese.
bdotdub 12y ago
Have you seen http://750words.com/ http://750words.com/? It's an awesome tool that does exactly that and gives you some insights and game mechanics to make the exercise more interesting
- edpichler 12y ago
  Oh, very cool. Thanks, I just bookmarked it here.
Reef 12y ago
http://xkcd.com/1179/ http://xkcd.com/1179/ please :)

rdrey 12y ago

I think starting with a private blog is great advice, since it removes all apprehensions except for the "too little time" argument.

henrik_w 12y ago
On the other hand, having other people read what you have written can be quite a thrill (especially if it becomes popular). Submitting your blog posts to HN and reddit/r/programming also can get you good feedback and alternative views (and, for that matter, mean comments too).

ionforce 12y ago

> I'm doing it since 09/22/2014. "I've /been/ doing it since ..." Concordo. Acho que deve continuar escrever. De onde você é? I agree. You should continue to write. Where are you from?

edpichler 12y ago
Brazil.

sophacles 12y ago

Tangential - Just want to give you some feedback on your comment, since you are wanting to improve your second language: First: you've overcome a big hurdle in learning a second language, I understood what you are trying to communicate, and I did so on my first reading of it. To me, this means you're already good at english! (By comparison if I tried in my second language, which is German, I would need a few drafts and a proof-reader). Second: You're doing commas better than a lot of native english speakers. That's pretty impressive. Third: There are a couple of grammatical/phrasing errors I'll tell you about in your comment. These are really common errors amongst people who learn English as a second (or Nth) language, and I'm not doing it to belittle you, but to help your stated goal of improvement. I'm doing it since 09/22/2014 This is one of those wierd places in English where the verbs "to do" or "to be" combine strangely with tenses and idioms. I'm not so sure of the technical way of stating the problem, but here's a couple of examples of a more natural way to state it: * I've been doing it since 09/22/2014. * I've done it since 09/22/2014. but something in me tell me that This is a small one, and maybe a typo, but it is part of a pattern I've seen a lot. Again, not great at the technical grammar terms, but it should be: * but something in me tells me that (notice the 's' on tells). Anyway I'm always impressed with people who can learn a second language well, and wanted to encourage it and help if can.

edpichler 12y ago
Oh, I really appreciate your corrections, thank you! I understand that reading bad English is really annoying for natives. I try to be careful here on HN, but sometimes I do some mistakes.
- sophacles 12y ago
  You're welcome. Personally, I don't understand when people get annoyed by those things. I figure if someone has done me the favor of learning my language to communicate with me, and they've done so well enough that I understand them, why should I nitpick little errors? I only point out things like this to people who state they are actively trying to improve - because they've done me a favor by being able to communicate with me, and I can return it by helping them at their goal.
  - StavrosK 12y ago
    That's a good outlook. I can't tell you how much it irks me when someone is annoyed that someone else doesn't speak English well. I always say "at least their English is better than your <other language>". Invariably, that outlook is expressed by people who happen to only speak one language.
    - blister 12y ago
      I don't mind when I meet someone in normal daily activities that speaks English poorly. My thoughts on the subject mirror your own. What _IS_ frustrating is dealing with a customer service representative in an overseas call center that speaks English poorly. How many man hours have been lost in forced communication with foreign contractors in an effort to save a few dollars an hour over an American counterpart? Also, those cost savings to a company like Comcast also damage our economy by not employing Americans in need of work. It's a double-whammy of frustration.
    - LOLStavrosK 12y ago
      > "at least their English is better than your <other language>". Strawman. > Invariably, that outlook is expressed by people who happen to only speak one language. Confirmation bias. 0/2. Congrats! Your comment contributed to the topic about as much, if not less, than mine. Happy Holidays! <3

IndianAstronaut 12y ago

As someone trying to learn Portuguese, I should probably start writing in Portuguese.

bdotdub 12y ago

Have you seen http://750words.com/ http://750words.com/? It's an awesome tool that does exactly that and gives you some insights and game mechanics to make the exercise more interesting

edpichler 12y ago
Oh, very cool. Thanks, I just bookmarked it here.

Reef 12y ago

http://xkcd.com/1179/ http://xkcd.com/1179/ please :)